Sun Devils Dominate 23rd-Ranked Cardinal

STANFORD, Calif. - Pressure, pressure, pressure. The Arizona State Sun Devils
swarmed over the Stanford Cardinal, forcing the Cardinal
offense to cough up the ball on numerous occasions. The Sun
Devils ended the Cardinal's five-game home winning streak by
defeating the Cardinal 31-14 in front of 43,909 at Stanford
Stadium.

"We just come out strong," said linebacker Pat Tillman. "We
knew we had to come out physical and we eventually wore them
down."

Turnovers were a big key to the Sun Devils' victory. The Sun
Devils' defensive unit forced four fumbles, recovering three of
them. They also pulled down two interceptions in the first
half, but the most telling statistic may be third-down
conversions. Stanford was only able to convert twice on third
down of the 13 times they tried. The Sun Devils also recorded
four sacks on Cardinal quarterbacks.

The defense allowed 399 total yards during the game, but made
key plays on fourth down. The Cardinal was only able to
convert 1 of 4 on fourth down conversions. Arizona State's run
defense disrupted Stanford's rushing game, allowing just 114
yards. The Cardinal also threw for 285 yards.

Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham offered his thoughts
after the game.

He said, "We started off in a tentative fashion. When you
don't control the line of scrimmage from the start, it makes it
difficult to get everything else going."

The defense was lead by senior linebacker Pat Tillman, who had
11 tackles and one interception. The other interception came
from safety Mitchell Freedman, his second of the season.
Senior defensive tackle Jeremy Staat also had a big day with
four tackles, all for losses and two sacks. The other two
sacks were recorded by defensive tackle Vince Amey and rush end
Malchi Crawford.

A trademark balanced offense kept the Sun Devils driving down
the field. ASU had 454 yards of total yardage. 259 of those
yards were gained on the ground without the services of
sophomore J.R. Redmond, who did not make the trip due to
injury. ASU still had two rushers with over 100 yards, and
neither of them had any runs for losses. All of ASU's
touchdowns came on the ground.

Tailbacks Michael Martin and Marlon Farlow paved the way for
ASU, never giving up a single inch. Martin had 124 yards on
the day and one touchdown, moving the ball an average of 5.4
yards per carry. Farlow, who received more playing time due to
an injury to J.R. Redmond, had a career day with 129 yards,
including a 60-yard scramble for his only touchdown of the
game.

Farlow said after the game, "I think I took advantage of the
opportunity, but I could have done a lot more. There were a
lot of things I wanted to do. In time, I'll be able to prove
myself and do more things."

Flyback Jeff Paulk also ran for 12 yards and a career-high two
touchdowns. All three of Paulk's rushing touchdowns in his
career have been against Stanford. ASU running backs gave up
only ten yards on the ground for the day.

Quarterback Ryan Kealy kept pushing the Sun Devils down the
field. He had 195 yards, completing 14 of 36 and throwing one
interception. Receivers Lenzie Jackson and Kenny Mitchell both
had four catches for 82 yards and 62 yards respectively.
Jackson has now caught a pass in 20 consecutive games.

The Sun Devils got off to a quick start in the first half. On
their first drive, the Sun Devils marched 82 yards in under
four minutes for the first touchdown of the game. Michael
Martin rumbled seven yards into the endzone to make the score
7-0.

Both teams would push back and forth for the rest of the first
quarter to no avail. After a quick start, it looked like the
Sun Devils would stumble like earlier in the season.
Quarterback Ryan Kealy was sacked by defensive end Kailee Wong
to end the first quarter. On their next drive, after receiving
good field position from a short punt, Kealy moved the Sun
Devils to Stanford's 11-yard line. Aiming for the endzone, his
pass was intercepted by cornerback Corey Hill, who returned it
30 yards. On the second play of the ensuing drive, running
back Anthony Bookman broke through for a 70-yard run and a
touchdown to tie the score at 7-7.

The momentum seemed to be in Stanford's favor, but in college
football, mistakes can cost games. Two drives later, Anthony
Bookman, the same player who shifted the momentum of the game,
would alter the momentum again. Threatening to score at ASU's
20-yard line, quarterback Chad Hutchinson handed the ball off
to Bookman, and, trying to break open another big run, fumbled
the ball. ASU linebacker Stephen Trejo pounced on the ball to
give the Sun Devils possession. ASU marched down to the
two-yard line to set up a two-yard run by Jeff Paulk for the
touchdown and the lead.

"Were starting to become a real resilient team, like last
year," said head coach Bruce Snyder. "Maybe we're picking up
on that. I hope that's the case."

Snyder didn't have to hope for long. The momentum kept going
the Sun Devil's way. On Stanford's next drive, linebacker Pat
Tillman intercepted Hutchinson's pass at the Stanford 34-yard
line. ASU would push to the Stanford 29-yard line to set up a
Robert Nycz field goal to make the score, 17-7.

With a minute and some change left on the clock, Stanford
needed to move the ball down the field quickly to keep the Sun
Devils from running away with the game. Hutchinson moved the
Stanford offense to ASU's 42-yard line. With seconds to go in
the half, Hutchinson heaved the ball towards the endzone. ASU
safety Mitchell Freedman hauled down the pass to end the half.

The second half would start off quietly, with both teams
fighting to gain momentum. At the beginning of Stanford's
third drive, receiver Troy Walters would haul in a pass and
advance two yards before fumbling it away to ASU at the
Stanford 25-yard line. ASU, hoping to take advantage of good
field position, pushed ahead to set up a 39-yard field goal
attempt by Robert Nycz, but the kick was blocked by Stanford
tight end Tommy Hanson.

Stanford, however, was unable to capitalize and ASU would
return the punt to their own 17-yard line to open their drive.
ASU would pick away at the Stanford defense to move to the
Stanford 2-yard line. Flyback Jeff Paulk plowed through the
line for his second touchdown of the game, making the score
24-7.

In their next two drives, Stanford would push into a fourth
down and one situation and a fourth and long situation.
Looking to get back into the game, the Cardinal pushed for the
first down on both occasions, only to be turned back by the ASU
defense.

ASU would score halfway through the fourth quarter. Starting
from their own 28-yard line, ASU would break down the field in
four plays for the score. The big play came from tailback
Marlon Farlow, who broke through and exploded for a 60-yard
touchdown run to make the game 31-7.

Stanford had just over seven minutes to try to make the game
look respectable. With back up quarterback Todd Husak now at
the helm, the Cardinal pushed 81 yards to close in on ASU,
31-14. Back up running back Mike Mitchell bounced into the
endzone on a two-yard run.

The two teams would push for the rest of the game and end the
affair at 31-14.

Head coach Bruce Snyder is now 4-1 versus Stanford while at
ASU. ASU has won three consecutive games at Stanford and is
now 5-2 at Stanford Stadium.

"This game was important," Snyder said after the game. "It was
in a lot of ways, so huge, so unbelievable. We had the
Washington loss which kind of put us behind the eight ball to
go to the Rose Bowl. To come in here and win, and I think
Stanford had the intangibles--playing at home and coming off a
loss, was great. We were focused and determined and the win
keeps us in the race for a major bowl game and even the Rose
Bowl."